Poultry watering cup



Aug. 19, 1958 R. s. KOFFORD 2,848,013

POULTRY WATERING CUP Filed June 10, 1957 4f INVENTOR. 4 f I REED S. KOFFORD ATTORNEY United States POULTRY WATERING CUP Reed S.Kofiord,"Van Nuys, Calif. Application June 10, 1957, SerialNo. 664,827 2 Claims. (Cl. 137-408) amountof waterheld in the cupsis small, the water inlet is. likewise small in .diameter. In the: past, such inlets havecustomarily been: formed of metal, which becomes corroded or to which mineral .or other deposits adhere over a period of time. Since the inlet issrnall insize, -it-does not -.take a-. large amountof-deposits or otherinterferenceuto causeserious. clogging which partially onentirelyblocks. the waterrflow to the cup; In previousconstruction, it has also been difficult or impossible to gain access to thewater inlet in order to clean it andreturn it to its original size .and condition.

It is an object-of my invention to-overcome these difficulties by providing a water inlet which is formed entirely of plastic material such as nylon. The water inlet willt-thusnot corrode: andmineral deposits will not readily. adhere to it, .so-that'uthe water inlet will remain clean andv clear for -"a far greater length of time than with previous devices.

It is afurther object of myi-inventionto provide acup of the class-described having a water holdingportion whichis capable of being rnovedwithout disassembly of anyiparts :in' order to permit the insertion of a cleaning implementwinto and through :thewater inlet, and-to permit-:cleaning-of the cup assembly. While this was also a-ieature of the:- construction shownin' my previous applicatiom-it was-foundthat -theconstruction there provided-had"onewdisadvantagein use; Because thewater holdingvportion was. -freely pivotable, the" poultry would often: peckat the rim of-thecup and cause: it to pivot, spillingwater into the-cage; This resulted in undesirable I accumulations of: waterwithin the cage, causingrunsanitaryconditions:v and. imperiling the health of the poultry.

It is-accordinglyxan object of the present invention to providena :poultry watering cup which retains .allrofthe advantages present in the priorconstruction :whileat thewsame time overcoming .the above described fault. The-present invention accordingly contemplates a construction'in'which the water holding. portion of thescup can: not be pivoted to any. substantial. degree' by poultry peokingat the-rim. or contacting;-the-cup. Atuthesame time, .the-water holding portion; is .pivotable at thediscretion-of the-.poultryman vforthe purpose of permitting access to-the water.inlet orwother portions of thecup. This is achieved by providing; stopameans between the pivoting and non-pivoting portions of the cup, such atent O stop means being selectively engageable by the poultryman.

It is a further object of my' invention to provide such a device in which the water holding portion of'the cup is formed of asingle piece of molded plastic such-as nylon. The material used is preferably somewhat resilient, so that breakage is substantially impossible. The resistance of the plastic material to deterioration and to the adherence of foreign material is equally advantageous in the case of the water holding portion as in the water inlet.

Another object of my invention is to provide a water inlet element which also acts as a fulcrum for the pivotal mounting of the water holding portion and counterweight.

Itis a further object of my invention to provide an improved and simplified means of effecting such pivotal mounting comprising an easily insertable and removable pin clip. A portion of the same pin clip is also adapted to selectively engage a stop member on the water holding portion of the cup in order to prevent'undesirable spilling of the water by the poultry.

My invention also comprises such other objects, advantages andcapabilities as willlater more fully appear and which are inherently possessed by my invention.

While I-have shown in the accompanying drawingsa preferred embodiment ofmy invention, it-should be understood that the same is susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit ofmy. invention.- 1

Referringto the drawings,

Fig. 1 is aperspective view of my poultry watering. cup, with the water holding portion locked inits normal position;

Fig. 2 is a side elevationalview of my cup, with the water .holdingportion released and pivoted upwardlyfor cleaning purposes;

Fig. 3 isafront elevational view of my cup, .with the Water holding portion. locked in normal position;

Fig. 4 'is a similarview, with the pivot pin. moved so thatvthe water holding portion isreleased;

Fig. 5 is aside elevational view of the pivot pin;-.

Fig- 6 is a perspective View oftheconnector;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the same A preferredembodiment which has been selected Yto illustrate my invention comprises a water. inlet member 10, which: preferably comprises a single piece ofsuitable molded plastic, such as nylon. Water inlet member 10 includes a connector 11, which is cylindrical in contour and whichis provided with external screw threading- 12. Anarrow waterflow tube 13 extends through-thelongitudinal .axis of connector 11.

A pivot flange .14 is formedintegrally with connector .11 and extendsoutwardly substantially, at a right angle with respect thereto. A pivot opening 15 extends through pivot-fiange14 adjacent the end thereof, transversely to water: flow tube13.

Theupper surface-of the pivot flangeld is provided withhawraised portion 413 which extends outwardly from the-connector- 11, dropping downwardly at-a-rightangle toiprovide -awertical shoulder 41, a flat track-. lland-an upwardly directed boss 43 on the opposite side'ofthe track 42. The boss 43 :is .onlyabout half as wide as the: remainder ofthe raised portion 40 and has both of its surfaces adjacent to the trackAZ somewhat-rounded off.

The. bottom: of .connectorll isprovided with a funnel shaped: spout 16; which is formed integrally with water inlet-10 and through which water fi'ow'tube' l3 exte'n'c'ls.

The bott'omof spout'16 isv circular in contour.

A cup; member 17 is-like'wise preferably formed of a single piece of suitable molded plastic material, such as nylon. The cup member 17 includes a hollow water holding portion 18 having an open top from which the poultry can drink. The walls of water holding portion 18 are preferably sufficiently thin so as to be somewhat flexible. This permits a considerable amount of abuse of this portion of my device without danger of breakage.

Extending upwardly from water holding portion 18 at an angle with respect thereto is a channel 19, which is formed as an integral part of cup member 17. Channel 19 is U-shaped in cross-section, having an open top with oppositely disposed side walls joined by a rounded bottom portion. A pair of aligned pivot openings 20 extend transversely through the side wall of channel 19 adjacent the top thereof. A stop member 44 is formed integrally with one side of the side wall of channel 19 and extends upwardly therefrom.

Extending outwardly from the top of channel 19 in a direction parallel but opposite to water holding portion 18 is a counter-weight portion 21. Counter-weight portion 21 is preferably formed integrally with cup member 17 and has straight sides and a rounded end. A counterweight 22, which is preferably formed of lead, is secured to the counter-weight portion 21.

Mounted adjacent the upper end of channel 19 is a resilient valve seat 26 which is disposed directly beneath the bottom of the spout 16.

A pivot pin 29 which is preferably formed of somewhat resilient wire is used to pivotally attach the two component parts of my cup to each other. The pivot pin 29 has a straight bottom leg 30 which serves as a pivot. A vertical leg 31 extends upwardly from one end of the bottom leg 30. The vertical leg 31 connects to a first horizontal leg 32 which extends a short distance substantially parallel to the bottom leg 30 and then curves downwardly to a longer second horizontal leg 53, which in turn curves into a dog leg 54 at the end of the upper portion of the pin 29.

In assembling my device, the bottom leg 30 of the pivot pin 29 is passed through the openings 20 in channel 19 and the pivot opening 15 in the pivot flange 14. The upper portion of the pivot pin 29 passes over the raised portion 40 on the upper surface of the pivot flange 14, sliding along the track 42 between the shoulder 41 and boss 43. During such movement, the downwardly directed portion of the dog leg 54 is moved upwardly, causing the upper portion of the pivot pin 29 to be flexed upwardly away from the bottom leg 30. Movement of the pivot pin 29 is continued until a stable position is achieved in which the downwardly directed portion of the .dog leg 54 is disposed beyond the raised portion 40 and the end of the second horizontal leg 53 is in contact with the track 42.

In use, the connector 11 is screw threadedly attached to a suitable water pipe 33. When the water is turned on, it flows downwardly through water flow tube 13 and out of the bottom of spout 16. From spout 16 it flows downwardly along channel 19 into water holding portion 18. As the water holding portion 18 becomes full of water, its weight increases. This results in downward movement of the water holding portion 18, since it is disposed on the opposite side of pivot pin 29 from the counterweight 22. The pivot pin 29 and pivot flange 14 act as a fulcrum, with the weight of the water in water holding portion 18 being balanced against the counterweight 22.

As water holding portion 18 fills, it moves toward a more horizontal position, finally reaching a position where the bottom of the spout 16 is brought into contact with the top of valve seat 26, which acts to seal off the bottom of water flow tube 13 to prevent further water from flowing into channel 19 or water holding portion 18. This seal is maintained until sufiicient water is removed from water holding portion 18 so that the counter-weight 22 lowers its end to separate the bottom of spout 16 from 4 valve seat 26 and permit further water flow. In actual practice, a delicate balance is maintained so that substantially the same amount of water is present in water holding portion 18 at all times.

It will be noted that while the pivot pin 29 is in the position described, the water holding portion 18 is capable of only limited pivotal movement with respect to the connector 11. Such limited pivotal movement is sufficient to permit the flow of water described. Further pivotal movement of the water holding portion is prevented by the engagement of the upwardly directed stop member 44 with the second horizontal leg 53 of the pivot pin 29. In the position described, the pivot pin 29 is spaced only a short distance from the stop member 44, permitting slight pivotal movement and preventing extensive pivotal movement of the water holding portion 18.

If the poultryman desires to clean the water flow tube 13 or replace the valve seat 26 or clean the cup member 17 or perform any other cleaning or replacement operation on the cup, he need only exert finger pressure on the vertical leg 31 of the pivot pin 29. This causes the second horizontal leg 53 to slide further along the track 42 until its opposite end is disposed adjacent the boss 43 and the vertical leg 31 is disposed directly beside the stop member 44.

Since the stop member 44 is shorter than the vertical leg 31, it passes freely through the opening defined by the vertical leg 31 and first horizontal leg 32, permitting free pivotal movement of the water holding portion 18 from its normal position transverse to the connector 11 to a position parallel to the connector 11. Such position permits the insertion of a cleaning wire through the water flow tube 13 and also permits replacement of the valve seat 26, as well as cleaning of various portions of the cup.

When the cleaning and maintenance operations have been completed the poultryman slides the pivot pin 29 back to the position first described and the water holding portion 18 is again locked against free pivotal movement. If poultry should peek at the rim of the cup or bump into the cup, it can not move a sufiicient distance to spill the water held in the water holding portion 18.

I claim:

1. In a pivotally mounted poultry watering device which includes a water inlet member and a cup member, a pivot pin having a bottom leg slidably extending through said water inlet member and said cup member to provide a pivotal connection between said members, said water inlet member having a track extending thereacross transversely with respect to said cup member, said pivot pin having an upper leg mounted for sliding movement within said track transversely with respect to said cup member, the bottom leg of said pivot pin being substantially longer than the transverse length of said water inlet member and cup member at their point of pivotal connection to permit transverse movement of said pivot pin without affecting the pivotal connection between said members, said cup member having an upwardly directed stop member disposed adjacent to said track and extending upwardly above said track, said pivot pin having an upwardly directed portion extending upwardly above said upper leg and above said stop member, said upwardly directed portion having an open area therebeneath, said pivot pin being slidably movable transversely with respect to said cup member between two positions, in one of which a portion of said upper leg is disposed adjacent said stop member to engage said stop member and limit the pivotal movement of said cup member, and in the other of which the upwardly directed portion of said pivot pin is disposed adjacent said stop member to permit extended pivotal movement of said cup member, with said stop member pasing through the open area beneath the upwardly directed portion of said pivot pm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Norland Feb. 23, 1950 Golf Aug. 2, 1955 Kofiord June 18, 1957 

